Dad Podcast

Posted by Jason Kreidman on December 20, 2016 in Podcast with no comments

When you look back at the holidays, what do you remember most? Do you remember the gifts? Do you remember a location you were at or something you did? You remember the celebrations, the activities you did, the people you were around. You create memories. I think I might be able to remember a couple of gits out of all of the years of holidays. And my parents were really generous.

The holidays are typically the time of year when people do spend time together – even when they don’t want to. sometimes they feel like they have to. For many however, it is a wonderful feeling to spend time together. I know I love spending time with my family. I don’t say that because they are listening

While we all can feel the joy of giving and receiving gifts, typically that feeling is short term. When we create memories, they can last forever. We also can take pictures and video to help us remember.

As my wife and I began collecting the thousand of presents delivered from Amazon. Multiple new packages seems to be showing up each day, we recently had a discussion about creating the tradition where we will spend time together (go on a small vacation or getaway with the kids) as their present. While getting some small things may be ok, spending money on “THINGS” seems like such a waste. The kids play with toys for a small amount of time, grow out of their clothes in no time, and simply just have too much stuff. Of course every family is different, but for most

Her and I already agree that for our own birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays we prefer to “do stuff” rather than receive stuff. So we are going to begin introducing this concept to the kids.

Specifically for the holidays, here are 3 ways to give them your presence:

– Give them a coupon book of your time: You could make one. Have the coupon be things like “lunch date”, or “taking a walk together”, things like that. If you have multiple children, the value of them doing this one on one with you is huge.

– Plan a family getaway – whether an overnight, weekend, or week vacation, take the money you were going to spend on presents and book a getaway.

Also as a dad you can think of this in non-holiday terms. Spending time with your kids and being “present” is much more important than getting them presents. Listen to Episode 74 with Presence expert Johnny Blackburn. He provides solid advice on how to be present.

– Secure a regular date with your child – For example, “every Wednesday evening, you and I will spend time together doing something you like. We can play games, color, etc.

These kind of gifts don’t have a price tag. They are priceless. While a 5 or 6 year might say they rather have pokeman cards or a video game, your presence is going to have a much larger impact than pikachu or legos.